Teen allegedly bullied for being Canadian quits U.S. school

But yeah, kids are way too sensitive these days. That's one of the byproducts of telling them that they're all winners and should be proud of
themselves when they accomplish nothing.

~Tenth

So true. And all this because of the generation of deluded narcissists we're raising this days. Take a look at to our kids. All hoked up in the
virtual word, games, social networks...Once unhooked and facing reality, they get intimidated, scared and feel unprotected. Using computer games, our
sons and daughters can pretend they are Olympians, Formula 1 drivers, rock stars or sharpshooters. And while they can turn off their Wii and Xbox
machines and remember they are really in dens and playrooms on side streets and in triple deckers around America or Canada, that is after their hearts
have raced and heads have swelled with false pride for “being” something they are not.

Sad reality which we all contributed in creating. False pride can never be sustained. The bubble of narcissism is always at risk of bursting.
That’s why young people are higher on drugs than ever, drunker than ever, smoking more, tattooed more, pierced more and having more and more and
more sex, earlier and earlier and earlier, raising babies before they can do it well, because it makes them feel special, for a while. They’re
doing anything to distract themselves from the fact that they feel empty inside and unworthy.

It sounds to me like the teachers didn't realize how much it was bothering the student and the appropriate action would have just been to have a
parent teacher conference about it. If I had been in the kids shoes I would have just stayed after class and discussed it but I realize not everyone
is comfortable with confrontation.

Now if all that had been done and the kid continued to get 'bullied' by the teachers, yeah pull them out. We don't know what else the kid was
dealing with so it seems a little premature to just say grow a pair even though that was my initial response too.

Now if it was just other kids I would say grow a pair. The PC crowd is getting out of control. I was reading some tripe the other day where it is
now considered wrong to call something stupid. 'That was a stupid assignment' might offend someone with a learning disability. Kiss my glorious
white ass.

So true. And all this because of the generation of deluded narcissists we're raising this days. Take a look at to our kids. All hoked up in the
virtual word, games, social networks...Once unhooked and facing reality, they get intimidated, scared and feel unprotected.

Between you and Tenth....you guys have made great points that i really can't disagree with.
Now look at the kids (and adults for that matter) on youtube calling people names hiding behind their screens and being douches while having no
repercussions by anybody including the parents.
Kids aren't all special and don't deserve a do what you want card because you are awesome....thats just dumb talk.

Over sensitive or not the teacher's job is to educate the kids, not tease them over their nationality for months on end. The following is from the
school's own website:

The Faith Fellowship Christian School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and
activities generally accorded or made available at the school.

It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, scholarship and loan
programs, and athletic and other school-administration programs.
Source (pdf)

Plus these parents pay to have their children go to that school, they have every right to be somewhat upset about this. Are they paying for an
education or are they paying for people that shouldn't be teaching classes to tease their kid? Remember, this wasn't just a few times, it was for
months.

I don't disagree that the school is responsible for the behavior of it's teachers. I think the point is that having more self confidence and
standing up for himself with those teachers most likely would have helped.

Now the poor kid is under the impression that any hardship he has, mom and dad will just pull him out of school or take care of it for him.

The problem with stories like this one, is they only give one side. We are left to fill in the blanks.

We have no way of knowing if this is honest or if this is another case of a kid exaggerating or even lying. Even his mother may not know the truth.
Then again it might just be true. Hard to say.

Even so one teen being bullied just means people are just like people have always been and will be in the future. Even here it occurs all the time.

The inclusion of it's a "Christian" school is also a form of bullying (bigotry), as it's meant to imply that somehow that fact means something
negative about all Christians. There is no other reason to include that fact in the story.

The same applies to the implication it's an American vs. Canadian thing, when it's just a case of a couple of adults who need a time out if this is
true.

Logs certainly find their way into a lot of eyes in News stories and commentary these days.

I don't think he'll grow up to depend on mom and dad like you mention. He might have less respect for Americans in general though, but I hope
not.

We don't know the entire story since the school doesn't want to comment on it yet, but before all this happened the kid did take it in stride for
several months. He didn't just "breakdown" after the first few times, running to his mommy, he even said himself that he thought they were joking
at first.

If he would of stood up for himself and talked back to the teachers, he would of gotten in trouble and his parents would of heard about it. If he
talked to the principle, he would of most likely called the parents and they would be involved.

I don't know if schools these days keep parents in the dark about everything that happens, but in my day my parents received a call if I had an
altercation with a teacher or principal.

That's just the problem - 15 is a terribly rough age. It's an awkward stage, physically. If you already have a poor self image, getting ragged on non
stop by adults in a position of power over you could be emotionally very difficult to deal with.

Were the bullying carried out strictly by the kid's peers, I'd be the first to tell him to grow a pair. But the bullying was initiated by teachers.
Educators whose job it is to do the opposite of mercilessly teasing kids.

If I had to guess (which is really all this article leaves us doing), is that the teachers may have meant it in a good natured manner and felt
comfortable making jokes with a Canadian student. While, let's say, it would have been politically incorrect to make the same jokes to a Mexican
student and this would have been a nation-wide story.

Even the student felt he was just being joked with at first but the faculty wouldn't stop. That tells me they probably were joking and felt
comfortable to continue but that the student finally got tired of it.

I certainly don't want to laugh it off because he's 'just Canadian.' Hopefully he wasn't really targeted and bullied just for that. It doesn't
really seem like a big deal to me but without all the facts, who knows?

When I highlighted in my OP that it's a private, Christian school, I wasn't intending to offend anybody with my 'biggotry'. The point I was trying to
make was that it's a bit surprising to see devout Christian adults mocking and teasing a presumably also devout Christian student. Surely as a
Christian teacher, they would be invested in shaping his mind and his faith.. and I wonder whether the incidents he went through at the school would
make him question his faith going forward.

My thought on the story. Some people say that the kid should just grow a backbone. If it weren't in a school environment he might done just that.
Teachers who bully can hide behind the system and sabotage any student easily. So to stand up to yourself in that kind of oppression is probably not
possible or a very good idea.

Aren't the teachers just giving him a bit of gentle ribbing, intended in good humour? Nothing about the story strikes me as malicious or bullying.

It doesn't sound like any kind of bullying I'm aware of, and what are the odds of two teachers in one school being so idiotic and ill that they
would bully a student from being Canadian?

He's obviously an idiot and doesn't know banter when he sees it. He should have given some back rather than sooking about it, here's some ideas he
could use in response format

I can see why the teachers should stop if they're aware that they're making a student uncomfortable or upset, but what I don't understand is why
the kid would be uncomfortable with some tongue in cheek remarks?

Originally posted by neo96
And they say the same things about Americans in Canada.
"bullying' happens every where, and over anything.
Schools have never been a 'kind' place.

Very true. I've heard some horrible stories about American kids in Canada getting nailed.
Kids in schools, any schools, can be evil to others. Teachers as well.
Some use their position of authority and power to get their frustrations out ... and the kids suffer.
It's a very sad thing. A sad statement about humanity in general.

This was a 15 year old kid being bullied by teachers. That's a step above and beyond dealing with it yourself. I don't care if you agree or not,
but at 15 I sure as hell wouldn't have felt comfortable confronting my teachers alone if I was being harassed. And, for the record, I did experience
violent behavior in the Canadian school system on two different occasions from teachers, both instances dealt with.

I think something that is important here is the fact that these were teachers, that alone makes this very disturbing. It's also disturbing that
these teachers, who are shaping the minds of the next generation of kids, would not only behave in such a manner professionally, but also to be that
completely ignorant of the 2nd largest country in the world, one of the countries that borders their own and is one of their largest trading partners
and suppliers of oil.

I would think if the student showed some kind of offense to the teasing, the teacher should have stopped or told him they were just teasing him.
Teacher's walk a fine line, not all children are thick skinned and some can be very vulnerable.

This was a 15 year old kid being bullied by teachers. That's a step above and beyond dealing with it yourself. I don't care if you agree or not,
but at 15 I sure as hell wouldn't have felt comfortable confronting my teachers alone if I was being harassed. And, for the record, I did experience
violent behavior in the Canadian school system on two different occasions from teachers, both instances dealt with.

I think something that is important here is the fact that these were teachers, that alone makes this very disturbing. It's also disturbing that
these teachers, who are shaping the minds of the next generation of kids, would not only behave in such a manner professionally, but also to be that
completely ignorant of the 2nd largest country in the world, one of the countries that borders their own and is one of their largest trading partners
and suppliers of oil.

But where's the evidence he was being harassed or bullied?

I went to school in Lancashire, England and remember clearly our science teacher from Yorkshire, England. He was always talking nonsense about our
county and nobody gave it a second thought. There was nothing in it.

I don't know why this kid is so offended and why other people think he has reason to be. Teachers made jokes about clubbing seals and commies, oh wow
the bloody inhumanity of it all!

This kid is going to fall apart in the real world. Complete bull#. This generation of kids are frighteningly fragile.

Originally posted by WeRpeons
I would think if the student showed some kind of offense to the teasing, the teacher should have stopped or told him they were just teasing him.
Teacher's walk a fine line, not all children are thick skinned and some can be very vulnerable.

Precisely. Why would two teachers risk their jobs by bullying a student in full view of a class room? It doesn't make sense. One odd case I could
accept, but two?

The student seems to be either socially incompetent and unable to pick up on basic social clues, or he's maliciously blowing up the incidents out of
proportion out of spite or for his own gain.

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